PESHAWAR: Two policemen were martyred and another injured when unidentified gunmen opened fire on them while they were accompanying a polio vaccination team in Mohmand district on Tuesday, police said.
The attack took place near the Hashim Kor police checkpost in the Dag Tamanzai area of Pindiali tehsil. The policemen were on their way to perform security duties for the vaccination team when they came under fire.
Headquarters Deputy Superintendent of Police Liaquat Ali told Dawn that the martyred personnel were identified as Constables Zahoor Khan and Arbai Khan. Sepoy Sabir Khan sustained injuries and was shifted to Ghalanai hospital for treatment.
District Police Officer Raza Muhammad Khan said one of the attackers was also injured during the exchange of fire. Police launched a search operation and cordoned off the area. No group had claimed responsibility for the attack at the time of reporting.
Federal Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi condemned the incident, saying that targeting police personnel assigned to protect polio teams was intolerable. He paid tribute to the martyred officers and expressed condolences to their families.
President Asif Ali Zardari also condemned the attack and paid tribute to the policemen for performing their duties in support of the national polio campaign. He prayed for the recovery of the injured personnel.
In a separate incident in Tank district on Monday, unidentified armed men abducted four polio workers while they were conducting vaccination activities in the area.
Police said the workers, identified as Union Council Medical Officer Qadeer, area in-charge Usman, and vaccinators Sameer and Umair, were taken away from Jious village in Sheikh Attar union council. A search operation was under way to recover them.
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Governor Faisal Karim Kundi expressed concern over the abduction and directed the authorities to take immediate steps for the workers’ safe recovery. He said polio teams were performing an important national duty and their protection was the government’s responsibility.
Meanwhile, two other members of a polio team who had been abducted from the Azam Warsak area of Lower South Waziristan were later released. Sources linked their abduction to the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).
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The incidents come amid a sub-national polio vaccination campaign launched on November 2, which will continue until November 8. The campaign aims to vaccinate nearly 24 million children under the age of five in 97 high-risk districts across the country.
